Calorie counting is cheap and fairly easy to do. I think you need to have some plan, even if you just make it up yourself, which is what I did for most of my weight loss. I ate better foods, focused on whole foods, limited portions, exercised almost every day and I lost weight.

A lot of people around here use fitday to count calories www.fitday.com but if you have an iphone or ipod touch, there is a nifty calorie counting software for that as well.

I was ready to sign up with Weight Watchers, but then I discovered that my cousin lost 100 lbs just by counting calories. So I decided to take that route and I gotta say, I love it! I don't feel at all deprived. But I'll be honest and say that first week...heck those first three weeks...are hard. No bones about it. I break my allotted calories into six equal mini meals. I keep a running tally in my head, but most people use online journals to track their food. It's all about what works for you and I know I wouldn't keep up with journaling. This works for me.

It's all about what works for you! I also did South Beach with great success. I don't know why I quit. There's a place on these boards for several different "plans" and many are free.

Yep, you need a plan. I also Calorie Count. Completely free and I make the rules!! Food journaling is a bit part of a lot of people's success. Do you think you are willing to weigh and measure you food and write everything down?

Calorie counting sounds like the way to go. I will be measuring, journaling and buying better foods.
I better start using that gym membership that I got last year. My sister says that the gillian Michaels DVD is really good. So I will buy that when I get paid this week.

I am doing the 30 something biggest loser challenge over the next 12 weeks, so maybe that will keep me motivated.

I'm on WW and love it, but to anyone who doesn't want to pay the money for it I always recommend calorie counting. It's the most obvious, straight-forward, no-gimmick way to lose weight and it's absolutely free!

For me, a PLAN has been essential in losing. I count calories (its FREE! ) & have been using sparkpeople.com for quite awhile now.. I really love it. It's helped so much in giving me meal ideas and allowing me to track calories, etc. There are lotsssss of websites that have calorie tracking tools, so it's definitely something you could look into! good luck!

Make a plan that you have to stick with, no matter what (for me it was a caloric limit and eventually, a minimum number of minutes/miles exercise).

Other factors are more flexible like whether a certain 130 calories in that day comes in the form of a cookie or a serving of edamame.

Keep track of your progress daily (for me it was in a notebook with a pen and often, a calculator).

And while we're talking about planning, I am a big fan of at least loosely sketching out what you're going to eat the next day. For the last 15-16 months I have been writing the next day's 'plan' on a post-it that I stick in my notebook, under the next day's food log entry. It's all ready for me to look over re: what's next to eat/log. I do make last-minute substitutions if there's something roughly equal in calories that I'm more in the mood for ...

Sometimes my next-day plan even looks like a Choose Your Own Adventure sketch of sorts, with arrows reminding me that I can have this or that, or this if I don't have that, etc. :-)

It is less complicated than it sounds. And a lifesaver for me. I like to remember that what I'm planning to make for dinner tomorrow is relatively 'high' in calories, so a 1/2 cup of oatmeal in the morning would fit, whereas a homemade pumpkin waffle wouldn't unless I am willing to have one of my lower-calorie dinners instead. And so on.

Planning works for me the best. Once my meals are planned, then I don't have to 'think' about it all day long. I am a calorie counter. I have a lovely spiral journal where I keep track of my daily food & calories, water, eating seated, no second helpings, exercise, etc. (things I am working on)

Lots of folks like keeping track at fitday or sparkpeople. It just didn't work for me - so, I do it the old fashioned way.

__________________ Move ticker, move!
Next Mini Goal - 214

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." - Margaret Thatcher

I can't lose 100 pounds....but, just maybe I can lose five pounds twenty times.

I have been on every plan out there. I found counting calories to be most successful but I hate tracking them. There are sites like dailyplate.com that can help but last week I found this site called sparkpeople.com and its all free and it plans meals for me so I can shop and I can adjust things to accomidate what I like. Depending on how much structure you want.... I would suggest either site. SP is just more structured.

__________________
~ I am proud to hold my head low with my tail between my legs if it means that I am back here and trying again. ~

Another calorie-counting food journaller here! For me, the journalling is KEY to success. There is major accountability in writing down and planning my meals, and even when I am eating on the fly, just *knowing* I have a daily calorie allotment I try to stay within makes me eat better and take smaller portions of what I do eat - almost subconsciously.

Your plan can be as structured or freeform as you want, but to move from point A to point B you have to take some action to change what you are doing, and be able to say with some reasonable assurance what the results of that change should be - that is the very definition of a plan.

A good way to start out is to plan (and then execute) one small change every day or every week, to gradually work toward a healthier lifestyle. It could be as simple as using smaller dishes, eating only at the table (not in front of a computer or tv), or drinking 64 oz. of water each day.

Without defining what positive action you want to take, you won't have anything to move forward on. Making a framework of what you need to do to achieve you goal is a very necessary component of actually achieving it. That is all a plan really is - the method by which you get to you goal.

The key is....find a plan....and stick with it.
Most plans work...not all are healthy...
Calorie counting is a great way to go (but make sure your choices are healthy ones).
I love many.....Body For Life (lost 100lbs with this 10 years ago) Clean Eating, Volumetrics.
Clean Eating (Tosca Reno) is great because it emphasizes healthy, whole foods.
Volumetrics emphasizes eating a larger volume of yummy foods for fewer calories-foods that fill you up ie a huge bowl of berries with a 1/4c yogurt cheese (strained yogurt) and a sprinkle of granola-instead of a big bowl of yogurt with a few berries and 1/2c granola
Body For Life is simple to follow and has a basic workout plan with it.

What I am currently doing (I don't want a drastic, fast loss as I want to try for baby #2 in about 4 months so I don't want to mess with my system)...I have the LoseIt! App for my I-Phone. It is great because you can set your goals, weigh in daily, track food and exercise, you can add your own foods and it calculates your daily calories and nutrition. I am implementing many eating styles into my calories....
And don't forget to start moving!